Home From Veterans Day Ride...

Crazyhorse hit another homerun with his annual ride! Although rain was in the forecast, and the 'Drama Channel' had green smeared all over the weather map for the southeast, we actually encountered very little on the way up to Cookeville, TN. I met Dennis and his brother Darryl that Friday morning for breakfast at Shoney's near Clanton, AL, and we rode the rest of the way together.

Along the way (trumpets blaring and drum roll here) ALI's odometer indicated the passing of the 500K mark north of Birmingham around the Hanceville exit! WOW! What a flood of memories each of these milestones produce, particularly a major one like this! So much has happened in my life since she and I became an item... I'm just proud to be here and doing what I'm doing... and doing it all with her.

The tire-kicking session Friday evening was... well, it was it's usual good time. It began when I dined at the next door Mexican restaurant with Big Wolf and CB, and we were joined in-progress by Rams... Funny how folks with such different lives can find 'common ground' so easily and communicate, even bond, when otherwise we'd never even have met... Yep, our Valks are truly amazing machines! The festivities later in the parking lot also reinforced this notion...

I managed to make the group ride Saturday morning... As usual and in keeping with recently established tradition, I was the last one to join the formation... Everyone was waiting patiently as ALI and I finally got into position, then Crazyhorse led us out of the parking lot... I can't explain why I've become the 'tail-dragger' in recent years, but for some reason... could it possibly have something to do with advancing age?

A really nice ride down some excellent country roads... scenic with serious curvitude. Something for everyone, as Mac set a very appropriate and welcomed pace for us... Those so inclined could challenge their skills when they felt like it, yet the more mellow riders, like yours truly, never felt pressure to keep up or even speed up... Dang near perfect!

We dined at the same state park restaurant we'd visited on previous rides, and it was probably the best place in those parts to accommodate a large group quickly and efficiently... The food was... well, what I had was pretty good, as a matter of fact, but later I had some serious doubts about the sour kraut and sausage I'd eaten along with several other items... Did I get them from the 'express' line, I wondered? I think so...

After departing the park, we rode awhile, then stopped at a gas station/convenience store for whatever... By then I'd already decided I was going to beeline it back to the motel, as really unsettling things were starting to develop just behind my navel... I had a flashback memory of a stay in Winnie, TX, a few months ago...

I pulled up next to Mac and informed him of my urgent need... and of the little detail that I had not a clue where we were or how to find the motel! God love him, Smokin' Joe was within earshot of us, overheard my plaintiff plea, and volunteered to lead me back! Could this be why Tennesseans are known as citizens of the Volunteer State? Whatever, I'm mighty glad indeed things worked out that way!!!

I arrived at the motel, dismounted without incident, mercifully, and made my way immediately to the porcelain portal into the sanitary sewer system... I made it in plenty of time, too, it turned out... Yep, I had three or four seconds to spare!!!

It reminded me of another ride I'd done with Smokin' Joe and Highbinder over in Kentucky a couple of years back... I would have made it in time then too, only the dismount in front of my motel room had... well, that particular maneuver apparently was my undoing... As my right foot was clearing the seat, bad things let loose... I ended up having to discard a couple of apparel items in the dumpster a few yards across the parking lot from my room... This time, however, things had worked out much better... and my entire wardrobe survived this outing.

We even managed to watch the Alabama vs. LSU football game Saturday evening... I'm an Alabamian, of course, but I'm also an Honorary Cajun with many ties to Louisiana... Following that truly entertaining spectacle, I was the only one there who both won and lost the game!

Sunday morning brought with it the usual farewells, hugs, handshakes, etc. that always produce a bittersweet ending to a great event... The last three remaining participants ended this gathering as we'd begun... dining together. Big Wolf, CB, and I went to an out-of-the-way café for breakfast and our good-byes... Then it was just ALI and this weary rider to continue the trek.

I'd been in no hurry at all to depart, as I'd already decided I wasn't going directly home anyway... ALI is such a gamer: She never objects or complains, she just takes everything that I can with great ease... I'm not sure I've actually been much of a challenge for her, though; heck, I couldn't even tell you positively that she even has a rev-limiter!

After finding the right road and leaving Cookeville (yep, I managed to take a wrong turn or two), we moseyed westward towards the horizon and possibly another amazing grilled ham and cheese sandwich in Arkansas. Mitch and I happened to stop at a place out there a couple of weeks before, and I'd made a mental note to return sometime. Lacking a better idea, I figured I'd just shoot for that unless or until something else popped up.

The next afternoon we landed in Clarksville, AR, and for what I figured would be a good jumping-off spot to head towards said sandwich the following morning... Good idea, workable plan, but... you know... stuff happens.

Wise folks have said "you can never go back". True for a couple of philosophical reasons, I suppose, but in my case there are other ones on top of those... For one thing, I'm navigationally challenged... and for another, my recollector muscle ain't exactly fully functional and engaged at all times.

I, apparently, mis-remembered the route Mitch and I had taken before, so I spent an entire day re-riding the wrong roads in my futile attempt to enjoy, and photograph, the most amazing grilled ham and cheese sandwich I've ever beheld and held... and consumed. It wasn't a bust of a day, however...

ALI and I enjoyed a fabulous ride down some great curvacious bike riding roads, and we even took a little detour up Magazine Mountain. I vaguely remembered having ridden up there back in the early 90s on a Gold Wing, but enough time had elapsed that it was more like riding it again for the first time... The rooms at the lodge on top are pricey, but I'll most likely stay there on some future ride through that area... I really, really enjoyed the ride that day... even without the sandwich.

We finished the day where we'd begun... at the same motel in Clarksville. At the time I was planning to have another go at a sandwich and such, but there was a complication... The Drama Channel had once again smeared green all over the weather map where I was, and dire predictions were being made... We did get some rain the next day, but nothing like what I'd expected... Anyway, I spent the entire day watching TV, napping, and generally killing time until the system passed.

By the time the following morning arrived, the need for another sandwich had subsided, and the itch to ride had returned... I decided to just save the sandwich experience for an excuse for another ride sometime, and to just wander off towards good ol' Bama... ALI needed an oil and filter change about the time of the official reason for this outing, so I decided to not push the mileage too far beyond the usual change point.

I rode almost entirely all backroads both days I spent returning home... WOW! It was so good to be back in the groove again! I found myself yelling thanks to my Maker for the wonderful life I've been blessed with, and I even tried to sing a bit... at the top of my lungs. You can get away with that on a bike... but I'm sure most of you already know that...

I got back here Friday afternoon. I switched back into routine mode, and I spent much of the afternoon and practically all night in the recliner napping... I'm not completely caught-up on that yet... but I'm a lot closer now than I was when I first arrived!

DDT